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Development of VHB-JOURQUAL 1 to 3
There are two main types of journal rating: The objective approach uses citation-based metrics to measure the impact of a journal. The subjective approach relies on expert opinion about the quality of a journal, as in the case of the VHB ratings.
From 2003 to 2011 (JOURQUAL 1, 2 and 2.1), VHB journal ratings were based on a weighted average of two factors: the perceived quality of a journal's articles and the rigour of its review process, which form the "VHB JOURQUAL Index". Both were scored on a weighted 10-point scale. The weighting took into account factors such as the number of people familiar with a journal's peer review process, the expertise of the reviewers - measured by their publication history in high-impact and international journals - and the number of reviews received.
JOURQUAL 3, published in 2015, introduced a significant change. The evaluation now focused on a single overall assessment of a journal's 'scientific quality', merging the previous distinctions between article quality and the review process (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2015). Scientific quality was defined as the extent to which a journal advances business studies as a discipline and integrates the collective knowledge and experience of the scholars involved.
Reception and Impact, Criticism
The JOURQUAL Ratings are seen as an important driver for the increasing internationalisation and focus of research in German business studies and serve as a guide for academics when submitting manuscripts. However, they also serve as an instrument for evaluating the research performance of professors, junior professors, postdocs and doctoral students.
Criticism of the VHB ratings relates in particular to the use and impact of journal ratings in general. It is important to clarify that the rating of a journal is not a suitable measure or guarantee of the quality of the individual articles published in it (Osterloh and Frey 2020; Cuellar et al. 2024).
The VHB advocates a multidimensional assessment of the performance of researchers. A detailed statement on the current VHB Rating 2024, which also applies to previously published ratings, can be found in the White Paper . You will also find a statement on predatory journals in German, which is still valid.
Availability of previous VHB ratings
The full explanatory notes for JOURQUAL 3 and all the JOURQUAL 3 sub-ratings are available on request from the VHB office at info@vhbonline.org.
In the interest of sufficient documentation, the JOURQUAL 1, 2, 2.1 and 3 ratings are available for download here.
If you have any questions, please contact the VHB office at info@vhbonline.org.
DOWNLOAD JOURQUAL1
DOWNLOAD Accompanying letter JOURQUAL3 (in German)
References
Cuellar MJ, Takeda H, Truex DT (2024) Are Ranked Journal Lists Effective Determiners of Article Quality? Journal of Computer Information Systems 64:622–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2023.2240725
Hennig-Thurau T, Walsh G, Schrader U (2004) VHB-JOURQUAL: Ein Ranking von betriebswirtschaftlich-relevanten Zeitschriften auf der Grundlage von Expertenurteilen. Schmalenbachs Z betriebswirtsch Forsch 56:520–545.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03372748
Osterloh M, Frey BS (2015) Ranking games. Eval Rev 39:102–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X14524957
Osterloh M, Frey BS (2020) How to avoid borrowed plumes in academia. Research Policy 49:103831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.103831
Schrader U, Hennig-Thurau T (2009) VHB-JOURQUAL2: Method, Results, and Implications of the German Academic Association for Business Research's Journal Ranking. BuR Business Research Journal 2:180–204